teaching souls through the written word

God in the flesh

Although the word “Incarnation” is not in Scripture, the concept is certainly biblical. Incarnation means “taking on flesh” and is commonly used of Jesus leaving heaven to become human.

Of the six great truths Paul cites about Jesus in First Timothy 3:16, the first is that He “was revealed in the flesh.”

Martin Luther wrote, “The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that He sank Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding” (Table Talk).

J. I. Packer said, “The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as the truth of the Incarnation” (Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 6).

God made visible

Before the Incarnation He was invisible to the world. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

But then He made Himself visible. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory . . .” (John 1:14).

Through His Incarnation Jesus: 1) identified with us, 2) made it possible for us to have a clearer picture of God (John 14:8-9), 3) connected Himself to a human line of ancestors stretching all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), and 4) took on a body capable of dying, by which He could defeat Satan’s hold on us (Hebrews 2:14-15).